""Zhongguancun" doesn't roll off the Western tongue easily, but it will soon be an address that technology investors must learn. For 25 years, locales from Singapore to the south of France have tried to create their own Silicon Valleys, but the original's remarkable spirit has never been duplicated. China, however, is putting the finishing touches on its own Silicon Valley --- and this time, they may have found the recipe.

The Zhongguancun district is in the dusty northwest corner of Beijing not far from the old Chinese emperors' Summer Palace. It is already populated by thousands of high-tech companies --- local firms large and small, as well as international outposts of companies ranging from Microsoft and Sun to Siemens and NEC. But now, in the heart of Zhongguancun, sleek new buildings are rising around prestigious Tsinghua University, creating what will be a world-class technology incubator."